Center for Maritime Strategy – The ongoing deployment of the British carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific, named Operation High Mast,” was in the news this week for both regular and unusual reasons. The strike group is  participating in the semi-annual Pacific exercise Talisman Sabre but it also came under fire from American Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby, who purportedly commented that the United States did not want the U.K. naval group in the Pacific and preferred that it instead cover Britain’s own near abroad, perhaps in the North Atlantic or Mediterranean Sea. Opinions differ on where and when U.S. allies should deploy in support of U.S. operations, but Operation High Mast is not a new concept. It is a scaled down version of the early twentieth century global voyage of the U.S. Great White Fleet. This concept, with the modern label of a “cruising strategy,” has been employed by the U.K. Royal Navy on numerous occasions; from the largely successful Empire Cruise of 1923-1924, and the disastrous mission of Force Z, which included the namesake of the present HMS Prince of Wales currently conducting Operation Highmast. A cruising strategy is a good way for a power with limited resources to “show the flag” with its arguable best ships in support of wider geostrategy. It does however have significant limitations in that the cruising force might not be in the right place at the right time to directly impact national policy.